Elden Ring: Nightreign was perhaps one of the most unexpected announcements at The Game Awards 2024. Hardly anyone could have guessed that the FromSoftware project would receive a collaborative spin-off and one that was completely different from the games formerly of the studio. PC Gamer played a preview version of Nightreign and talked briefly about everything you need to know about the game.

Game format: cooperative roguelike for three players

• Nightreign is a fully cooperative multiplayer game, designed for short 30 to 60 minute sessions.
• A group of players will have to explore a familiar but modified version of the Elden Ring's starting area, the Elden Ring. The geography of the map is static, i.e. cliffs, castles, caves, etc. are always in the same location, but the locations of mobs and objects are random.
• Before each race, the player chooses one of eight final bosses. Before the battle, you need to survive two days of exploration and combat, with a boss at the end of each day. On the third day, the team is teleported to a magical battlefield where they will face the final showdown.
• Like Elden Ring, you can play with random players or by creating private sessions with a password for friends.

Create and level up characters

• You will not be able to create your own character in Nightreign. You will play as one of eight pre-installed “heroes”, each with their own unique appearance and abilities.
• So, in the preview version, journalists tested a knight with a grappling hook from Sekiro, an assassin countess who gives invisibility to allies, and a tank that increases defense capabilities. team player. The fourth character is a mage who specializes in elemental attacks.
• So far it is known that the final version of the game will have an archer with an “extended targeting system” and a hero capable of parrying enemy attacks like in Sekiro.
• Pumping happens much faster. As you level up, the game automatically distributes stat bonuses, but each character has their own bonuses.
• If a player is completely out of health, teammates can help them. If the wounded hero bleeds to death, he will respawn at the checkpoint, losing all accumulated runes and one level. You can return lost runes by going to the place of death.
• The heroes' levels are reset to zero on each new run, but the game has an element of meta progression in the form of the characters' personal stories.
• In addition, players will be able to diversify their construction with the help of relics, which provide unique bonuses and passive perks.
• Weapons will have level requirements but no restriction on characteristics. Each hero can use any weapons and items.

Nightreign is Elden Ring 2?

• No, Nighreign is more like a spin-off or a standalone supplement in terms of scale and unique content.
• The game will not have a single-player campaign or large dungeons – indispensable components of FromSoftware RPGs.
• The developers are trying their hand at a new format while Miyazaki is (possibly) working on the company's next big project, which is still at least a few years away.

Is Nightreign similar to Elden Ring?

• Yes and no. Nighreign is identical to the original game in several aspects. Basic weapons and enemies have the same animations as in Elden Ring. The controls are unchanged, except for a few minor things. The basic fighting mechanics remain the same: backstab, shield blocking, two-handed weapon holding, etc
• Nightreign differs from Elden Ring in many aspects. The player's movement and sprint speed have become significantly faster even without a mount. Most cliffs and cliffs can be climbed. The player does not take damage when falling.
• Since the time for each race is limited, the game pushes you to not stop and continuously move around the map to earn as much experience as possible and find loot.
• Many of the basic enemies quickly become cannon fodder, making the combat feel unlike other soul battles where every fight is a threat and caution is required.

FromSoftware does not consider Nightreign a “direct service”

• Project manager Junya Ishizaki told reporters that FromSoftware has no plans to develop Nightreign as a direct service.
• Currently, the authors have no plans for seasons or battles, and information about possible post-release support will appear later.
• Nightreign will not be a free game. It will cost the same as Shadow of the Erdtree, but players will not need the base Elden Ring.

World and procedural generation

• The Nightreign map looks like a sort of “remix” of Zamogil from Elden Ring. The topographic features are familiar but they are located in different places. The developers did not say how much the world will differ between different races.
• Sometimes one or another modifier will be applied to the map: for example, a new swamp or an erupting volcano will appear.
• The authors also hinted that some changes in the world around them may be tied to the personal stories of the playable characters.
• Enemy and boss types will change from session to session, which FromSoftware hopes will help maintain replayability.
• Sometimes games bring surprises. For example, Mar-gite is one of the potential bosses of the second night, but he will occasionally “invade” during the day, after which he will begin chasing the player around the map.
• While the authors did not talk about whether other maps will appear in the game – in the preview version, only Zamogilye was available to journalists.